Beartown
by Prudence Plays
Summary: It's 1987, and Eric will do just about anything to get away during the summer break. Wearing a bear suit at a New Hampshire amusement park and taking on a bet with his girlfriend/"partner in crime" are the easy parts. Matters of the heart? Not so much. Eric, Sookie, Freyda. EPOV. AH. AU.
1. Chapter 1

It's 1987, and Eric will do just about anything to get away during the summer break. Wearing a bear suit at a New Hampshire amusement park and taking on a bet with his girlfriend/"partner in crime" are the easy parts. Matters of the heart? Not so much. Eric, Sookie, Freyda. EPOV. AH. AU.

* * *

The most obvious thing I could say about the bear suit was that it was hot.

Next to that, it stank, though not of what you might expect. Not like _human_ body odor. "That's _real_ bear skin you're wearing," the Old Man liked to remind us, as if we couldn't tell from the moment we put it on.

"It's a walking health hazard," Mustapha said more than once. He wore it too, along with Clancy, Lafayette, Warren, and Claude. Thirty minutes outdoors was supposed to be our limit on any day above 80 degrees, but no one followed that rule, for different reasons. "There's power in the suit," Clancy boasted, and Lafayette agreed in his own way. "You ever get to that point when your vision splits and voices sound far off?" Heat stroke, Lafayette figured, might teach him something new about the universe.

I wore the suit because it was my job. More importantly, my job was a ticket out of D.C. and away from my controlling father for the summer, in 1987, the year before I graduated from college. The place was Beartown, an old-fashioned amusement park that had the flavor of the Wild West in the middle of the mountains of New Hampshire. There was a water slide, a few rides, a petting zoo, "Indian raids" at high noon and five PM, and a bear show. Lorena the bear was the star of Beartown according to the Old Man, whose real name-if you care to know it-was William Compton. He'd taken over the place from his father, who'd maybe taken it over from his father, or something like that. The man liked to pontificate. Sometimes I tuned him out.

"You have been hand-selected to wear the suit," he told us. "In our dodranscentennial year, no less." He was one of the biggest bullshit artists I ever met. One of the most stubborn, too. "This particular suit," he said, "comes from Our Original Maker."

I'm not even kidding about that. He used those exact words—_Our Original Maker_—and for a moment, I wondered whether he was running a bear worshiping cult, which would have made him inordinately more interesting. But, no, Old Man Bill wasn't charismatic enough to lead a cult, even though he wanted badly for us to think that we were all in this together, striving to keep Bear Town the most beloved "family entertainment center" in all of New England. _Don't scare the little kids with the suit _was his mantra.

The thing was, the suit was outright vicious, with mangy and matted fur, a mouthful of snarling teeth, and eyes white-rimmed with rage, like it had spent the past 100 years stalking down hikers and devouring them alive. You put something like that on and immediately you want to fuck with people.

"No pretending to maul anyone. No jumping around corners," Sophie-Anne, the artistic director, had droned, reading from a list of prohibited activities. "No mocking. No humping. No grabbing little kids…"

Fucking-A, it was tempting, especially when the dads would shove their kids at me for a hug and a picture. "Hot enough for ya?" they'd say with a joshing laugh, their eyes peering at the suit, searching for the peephole through the teeth.

"Like a summer camp for college students," was how Freddy had described it when she'd first told me about Beartown. I didn't care if it was a pig farm. I'd have followed her anywhere just to get away from my father during the long hot months, and she knew it. She was getting antsy, eager to hit a new wall with me. To keep things interesting, she made a proposal: "I pick one for you. You pick one for me."

Together since our freshman year, we'd done this before, so it seemed like nothing new. Freddy liked sending me off for sexual conquests who were similar to her. The closer she could get to herself, the more thrilling the risk and the more affirming our reunion. It was us against the world, one challenge after another, followed by really spectacular sex.

"All right," I said.

"So you agree?"

"Sure. You must already have someone in mind for me."

Freddy's smooth demeanor turned manic with a wide, toothy grin. She stuck out her chest. "Welcome to Bear Town! We're having a birthday! We're seventy-five years-old! Would you like a commemorative letter opener? "

"Sookie Stackhouse. The chick who runs the hospitality tent." Of course I knew who she was. Sookie was a well-known figure at Beartown, and not only because of her much-admired boobs. She also seemed to be the unofficial second in command of the joint and—rumor had it—was servicing the Old Man with blow jobs.

Freddy continued with her mocking. "Restrooms are located just to the right of the entrance. Would you like me to wipe your ass for you?"

Freddy didn't see much about Sookie beyond the crazy grin and squinty eyes. "Nice Jellies," Freddy had said snidely of her shoes. I put her in her mid-twenties, a few years older than me. All-in-all, she was strikingly different from Freddy, though physically not unlike a few women I'd dated before her. Rumors aside, I had to wonder what had gotten her in tight with the Old Man, though, of course, there's no overestimating the power of a good blow job.

"No turning back now," Freddy said with a wicked grin. "Who do you pick for me?"

"I need more time to think."

"No. You have to pick now, or else you'll have more time than me to scheme."

"You've already had more time to scheme." I didn't know many people at Bear Town, aside from my roommate and all the guys who wore the suit. Except…

"The Old Man's out," she said right away, as though she knew my train of thought.

I thought about Sookie's brother, a dimwit who hung around with Hoyt Fortenberry in the dorms, but he hardly seemed like any conquest. Half of the game was figuring what Freddy saw as the challenge for me and then coming up with an equivalent match for her. I was sure she saw Sookie as someone I'd never date in a million years but beyond that, I would need to be discrete to stay in good with the Old Man and keep my job.

"I know," I said, an idea coming to me at once. "That girl with the brown hair who always wears the hiking boots. Lives off site."

A dawning of recognition crossed her face. "Interesting," she said. "Amelia, right?"

I shrugged. "Something like that."

"All right," she agreed without hesitating, quickly enough for me to know that I'd surprised her. As far as I knew, she'd never slept with someone so outdoorsy. Plus we were still in the dark ages back then in the 80s. Ellen's coming out episode was still at least a decade away, which meant that reputation-wise, Freddy had far more to lose if she got caught with Amelia.

She stepped closer to me. "Sure you're up to the challenge?"

"Sookie won't be able to resist."

"I think by the end of the summer, she won't know what she missed." Her hand slipped between us, reaching for the zipper of my jeans. Nearly whispering, she said, "Do you want to fuck one more time before your long dry spell?"

I nudged her hand away, which made Freddy's face light up. "I _knew_ I could count on you. You're one of the best game players I know." She stepped back, switching to business mode. "So..no dorm visits between us. No public display of affection. Nothing that would show that we're anything but friends. Agreed?"

I nodded.

"As usual, first one to get laid, wins. Word of honor counts."

"Game on," I said.

* * *

Disclaimer: I'm not profiting from this story.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good evening, Beartown Bears!" Bill shouted. He was standing on a portable stage, set up under the hospitality tent, for the mandatory staff meeting that was held every Sunday night, when the park closed early. Next to him stood Long Shadow, his animal trainer. Long Shadow was holding an animal skin drum dangling feathers. We sold ones like them in the gift shop.

"I said, good evening, Beartown Bears!"

"Yo-dah!" someone called out.

Long Shadow began banging on his drum. A steady, plodding beat.

"Yo-dah," Long Shadow sang. A few people continued, "Yo-dah! Yo, yo, yo, yo!"

"Yo-dah. Yo-dah. Yo, yo, yo, yo. Yo-dah. Yo-dah. Yo, yo, yo, yo."

Eventually most of us joined in. It was a simple chant, but then people added foot-stomping and a complicated knee-slap pattern, like a fucking camp song. Long Shadow picked up the pace until Bill nodded. Cheers erupted from around the tent. Maybe I'd underestimated the Old Man's ability to draw a crowd.

"Nice work, Beartown," he said. "Thank you to our seasoned summer employees for showing our new people how we start our weekly meetings. I can tell already we are going to have a very fine summer!"

More cheers.

"Our dodranscentennial year!"

The tent quieted.

"Seventy-five," Bill said. "Our seventy-fifth season open to the public. And it all began with my grandfather and a little bear cub. What was that little bear cub's name that started it all?"

"Solomon," Freddy answered. She was entering the meeting just then. Freddy had transformed herself over the past few days. She'd bobbed her hair and pulled it off her face with a handkerchief she'd rolled up and tied like a headband. She'd also invested in a pair of expensive hiking boots that she wore with a pair of socks bunched around her ankles.

"That's right," Bill said. "Solomon, or Solly Bear we call him. Good job…?" He inclined his head toward Freddy.

"Freddy," she said

"Thank you, Freddy. It's important for us to know our beginnings. It shows our visitors that we are family and that we all care about the work we do and appreciate their loyal patronage. So I charge all of you with knowing our history, which is detailed in your employee handbooks. Pick up a copy if you need one." He pointed to a large stack of spiral-bound booklets on the edge of the stage. "Also, we encourage you to stop by our museum and see the artifacts we've preserved. Amelia? Where are you Amelia?"

Amelia raised her hand. Freddy had already wound her way through the tables to find a seat across from her.

"Everyone, Miss Amelia Broadway is our lead museum guide. She can help answer many of your questions about bears and our history. And be sure to come to our weekly meetings, which start every Sunday night at 7 PM sharp."

A few heads turned back to Freddy.

From there, Bill launched into a litany of reminders. Employees needed to be wearing their ID badges at all times. The men's room at the northeast corner of the park would be undergoing emergency repairs during the next few days, and visitors were to be directed to either the one near the main entrance, or in the Canyon Rapids. Sign-ups for first-aid training for non-aquatic staff would be posted in the employee lounge.

Sookie, meanwhile, was helping at the food table, smoothing the vinyl tablecloth and lining the pans of food even with the edges. She tapped on the table, apparently satisfied, and left her station to join the man at the grills. He said something to her, his head tilted in her direction. She nodded, stepped closer, and nodded again. His tongs, snapping and twisting, suddenly stopped. She stilled too, as she listened to him. Though I couldn't hear them, I found myself drawn into the tenor of their conversation, their anticipation. Something was going to happen between them, a punchline or some kind of payoff, strangely intimate underneath this stupid revival tent with moldy canvas. I wanted to see it.

They were getting close when an asshole walked by and stopped, blocking my view. For a full minute he stood there, doing nothing but listening to the Old Man. By the time he finally took a seat, Sookie and the man at the grill were already rocking on their feet and shaking their heads and laughing. Fucking- A, I'd missed it. Up front, Bill was reviewing a weekly educational segment on black bears, something about bear safety. A car in the parking lot passed, gunning its engine. He paused and then continued, undaunted.

When I looked back, Sookie was still smiling. She was beautiful now, with happiness opening wide on her face. Relaxed and at ease. What had the man said to make her that way? She turned from him—he was a small man with bad hair—giving me a good view of her profile, her high ponytail, bare neck; and torso, draped in a blousy Beartown t-shirt. Somewhere in all of that extra fabric were full breasts and a waist swelling out to round hips. One day she would allow me to touch her, to press into the bulk and find the outline of her body. It was only a matter of working faster than Freddy.

Next to me, Clancy whispered, "Weird," nodding in Sookie's direction. "And definitely off limits if you want your job."

"In closing," Bill was still droning, "I'll remind you of the legend of Kchi-awasos, or Great Bear, reborn every spring. In the summer, we hunt him. He gives us a good chase. And in the fall, after a summer of hard work, we will capture him, victorious, and the blood of his slaughter will turn the leaves brown."

"Micida!" someone called out, which brought some laughter around him.

Bill, too, was smiling. "Micida!" he responded. "Let's eat!"

A group was already standing and heading for the food table. Most of us lived off Ramen noodles, cereal, and pizza for the rest of the week, and the promise of a full meal was the only real reason we attended these meetings.

Sookie was behind the serving table, in constant motion, replenishing food as necessary. I caught her eye, not only once, but twice, the second time for a full three seconds. When the line quieted, I approached. Half of her body was under the table, tugging at a box. She emerged with a package of napkins wrapped in a brown paper sleeve.

"Do you need something?" she asked, trying to swipe some stray hair from her forehead with her arm as she managed the package. It was all picnic food: hotdogs, hamburgers, potato chips, baked beans, and some kind of macaroni and hamburger casserole with cheese. I stabbed it with the serving spoon. "No," I said.

She turned from me and resumed her busy work. "On second thought, you could tell me something about yourself," I said.

She faced me once again, with the stance of someone who was ready for a challenge. It made me annoyed and intrigued at once. "I'm a little busy right now," she said, smacking a metal napkin holder onto the table once, twice, three times. She picked it up and peered inside.

"I thought you could use a break," I said.

"Is that right?" she said, peering over the edge of the metal rim.

"Definitely. What's your name?"

"Sookie Stackhouse. And you?"

"I'm Eric. Eric Northman."

"Welcome to Beartown, Eric. Help yourself to something to eat before it all goes. It won't last long." She went back to focusing on her napkin holder, poking at the spring mechanism that appeared to be stuck.

"You look like you know what you're doing around here. Except for napkin holders."

She stopped poking and looked up. Her eyes were the color of a comfortable denim blue and finely lined. She'd been through some stress in her life. "And you look like the kind of guy who finds his way," she said.

She was giving me the brush-off, sending me on my way. "I'll take that as a compliment."

_Poke. Poke._ She didn't answer. I wasn't ready to call it a day. "It's true I find my way, though not always on my own. People don't often say no to me."

She laughed. "You make it sound like you give people a _reason_ to say no. They just don't say it."

"I can be very convincing."

"Because you're so tall, right?" She said this as if it were a throwaway line.

I paused. She still wasn't looking at me, so she was missing half of the effect I usually had on women. "Mostly, I don't waste my time on the little things."

"Hah!" she said triumphantly, banging the metal box on the table. She grabbed for the napkins. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"Sweetheart, did you see where I stashed those extra key chains?" the Old Man interrupted, walking behind the table to a spot next to her and putting his hand on her shoulder, like he owned her. He took the napkin holder from her and shook it.

"I fixed it," she said. "And no, I don't know where the key chains are. There are so many boxes, I'm not sure _what_ we have."

"I'm getting you that extra storage shed. They're setting it up in the parking lot on Tuesday. It's all yours for whatever you need." And then looking to me, he said, "You're Eric, right?"

I nodded.

"Sophie-Anne wanted to see you. I set up an appointment for you with her tomorrow morning."

"All right."

"I'm sure you're doing fine in the suit. But this is your first summer, and you're one of the tallest people who's ever worn the suit."

"Mm-hmm," I said simply, though I knew I was the tallest. Sophie-Anne had already told me so.

"It's always a good idea to get some instruction on wearing the suit. Even our seasoned employees like Claude need tune-ups every year. Sophie-Anne does a good job keeping all of our bears on the same page."

"I'll get right on that," I said.

"You need anything else?" he said to Sookie. "Looks like the line's died down. So we're okay on food?"

"Yep," she said. A slight frown had creased the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you again, Sookie," he said, squeezing her shoulder as he walked off to meet with Long Shadow.

"Listen," Sookie said as she busied herself with wiping up the table, not meeting my eyes. "It's not unusual for the police to show up in the dorms once or twice during the summer, especially when there's word that a big hallway party is brewing. You know what I mean? Bill likes to keep his facilities in good shape."

"All right." There went our plans for the night. "Thanks for the heads up."

She kept up with her scrubbing, even though everything looked all right to me. "Nice meeting you, Sookie Stackhouse."

I took my seat next to Clancy. "Crash and burn," he said to me under his breath.

"Let's get out of here tonight," I said and passed on the tip Sookie had given me.

"I feel the need!" Clancy said.

"The need for speed!" Hoyt answered on cue.

"No. Not there," I said. We'd already sneaked into the drive-in theater twice in the past week. I'd had enough Top Gun for the rest of my life.

Across the room at another table, Freddy, sitting with Amelia, cast me a superior look. Let her think I was losing, but I had a feeling my introduction to Sookie hadn't gone all that badly, thanks to the Old Man. Something was going on between her and the Old Man. Some kind of tension. I planned to use it to my full advantage.


	3. Chapter 3

On Monday morning, Sophie-Anne gave me a "tune-up" on my bear skills.

"You're going to have to work extra hard because you're so tall. It's all about attitude. Be light with it. Our mascot is here to welcome tourists and make them believe they're having the best times of their lives. You know what I'm saying? We're competing with Disney."

"I should channel Mickey?"

She hesitated. "Mickey is a mouse."

"Right, and I'm in a bear costume with vicious teeth."

"Ah, well there's where you are going wrong. You can't let the suit wear you. You have to take charge of it. Handle it. You make it what you want. I know you have it in you, or Bill wouldn't have made you a bear. All right, now try this." Sophie-Anne waved.

"You want me to wave."

"It's not simply a wave. This is a plain wave." She demonstrated again. It looked all right to me.

"Compare that to this." She put one hand on her hip, extended her arm, and started waving it. Then she brought both hands to her cheeks and gave little waves with her fingers.

"That's Mickey."

"Then make it look like fucking Mickey Mouse, kid," she growled. Sophie-Anne's genteel manner was gone in a flash. I had new respect for her.

"Fine. I'll be a mouse in bear's clothes."

"Show me."

I did Sophie-Anne's wave. I skipped. I blew a big kiss. No one said I had to like it; I simply had to play by the rules of the game. At least until I figured out which ones I could break.

She gave me a curt nod. "I'm going to be watching you."

"Fine. I understand."

"Now," she said. "Go forth and be merry or I'll have your balls on a platter."

I turned to leave, knowing full well I should get out while I still could, that even if she couldn't touch my nuts, she'd come up with something else creative, like putting me in charge of restroom upkeep. But as it turned out, Sophie-Anne wasn't finished yet.

"Do you know anyone who could play an Alice-in-Wonderland type of character? We've got a last-minute anniversary show Bill wants to start as soon as possible." She waved her hands, as though she'd gone through this routine many times already and could speed up her own explanation. "Alice falls down a mine shaft, encounters Beartown characters from years past. And so on." Her voice trailed off. She had a stack of folders on her desk and a calendar planner open to a page with a full list. Her trashcan was overflowing with the torn edges of printer paper.

I thought immediately of my step-sister Pam, who was in Virginia Beach with a friend for the month of June, with no other plans for the rest of the summer. Pam would hate prancing on stage, but her dislike of my father was second only to mine, and she'd be looking for something to fill her empty time. "Would she have to sing?"

"Only in group numbers." Sophie-Anne perked up.

If I could find Pam a place to stay for the rest of the summer, she'd be willing to help me with my bet with Freddy. More than willing, in fact.

"What about housing?" I asked.

"It _might_ be included," she said cautiously.

"I _migh_t have someone for you."

"Let me know. Until then, keep skipping." Sophie-Anne drove a hard bargain.

Late in the afternoon, I took the bear head off and left the park through a hidden staff only door in the stockade fence in Big Bear Den. A guy named Dave was dressed in costume and waiting to take part in the five PM Indian raid.

"Sucks to be you, man," he said as I passed him.

"Nice feathers," I replied. There was a hierarchy among us cast members. Though the rest of the cast wouldn't ever say it out loud, the bear costume people topped the list. Lowest of the low was Alcide, who played the part of "Mountain Al," which basically meant he let his beard grow, wore tattered clothes, and acted feral in the haunted mine. Though his dad owned a construction company nearby, he lived in the dorms with the rest of us. He made people uneasy, randomly shrieking or jumping around corners to scare people. "Sorry, guy," he'd say, "Mountain Al must be getting hungry." Or "Mountain Al didn't sleep well last night."

It was a quiet time of day for Sookie out in the hospitality tent, when not too many people were coming or going. "Here," she said, shuffling empty boxes aside to free a chair when she saw me. She filled five tiny plastic cups of water for me.

"You know you're harboring a fugitive," I said, stuffing the bear head into one of the boxes.

She stopped her motion for once. She was always straightening and tidying and moving. "You're right. Bill would have _your_ head if he caught you on Beartown property half dressed in that suit. But I never turn away anyone who could pass out from heat exhaustion."

"You're killing me with kindness," I said, reaching for the water. It was cold, but tasted of the plastic it had been stored in. I drank two cups. "I hear someone passes out at least once every season."

"Oh, sure, because you guys are always pushing the limits of how long you can stay out here in the heat."

"Warren?"

"Well, yes. He has the record. It's untouchable, all right?"

"Fine by me," I said. There was no need for heroics. My plan was to get through the season under the radar. Do my job well enough to escape attention. Sweep Sookie Stackhouse off her feet right under the nose of the Old Man. Then I could finish my last year at school with Freddy, get a real job, and move on with the rest of our lives. "Speaking of which…" I reached to the back of my neck to tug on the zipper, buried in fur. "It's time to ditch this monkey suit."

"Hold on, hold on," she said, stepping behind me. "I know there's a trick to it."

"I like a woman who's good with zippers."

"Stop that," she said, tugging at the zipper.

"Stop what?"

"That Mr. Intensity thing. Coming on so strong, you barely give a woman time to catch her breath."

"So right about now, I shouldn't say how happy I am that I made you breathless."

"Exactly."

I felt like I was on my second training of the day, learning how to act a certain way. It wasn't such a bad idea, putting Sophie-Anne's indoctrination to other good uses. My usual flirtations with women weren't going to work on Sookie. Freddy had chosen well.

"What would you like to talk about, then?" I turned my head. She had a grim set to her mouth, which wasn't any better than the weird fake smile.

"Hold still," she said, pulling at the fur. "If I mess this up, I'll have Tara to answer to."

Tara Thornton was the woman who dressed all of us and handled all of the costume repairs and upkeep. She actually brushed the bear costume. "With a wire brush only," she told us, as if we'd ever be inspired to groom it.

"So you know Tara?"

"Oh, sure. Since elementary school."

"You grew up here?"

"Mm-hmm." She pressed one hand against my back. "Almost got it."

As the zipper gave way, cool air sliced my back. I shrugged the costume from my shoulders and stood to step out of it in my shorts and tee. It fit into the box with the head.

"So you must like it here," I said.

"Hmm?" she asked. She was already moving again, straightening the display rack with brochures.

I changed my question. "New Hampshire. The Live Free or Die State. What's it like?"

"It's beautiful. Wild and rugged. Plenty of people coming and going. The mud season's the worst."

That was about as much information as I was going to get out of her for now. A small group of people was converging on the tent as the 5:00 attack began. Sookie, clearly used to the spectacle, opened up a map and spoke above the gunfire and whooping. "Just inside the front gate and to the right, you'll find the petting zoo." The visitor she was helping was a nerdy, lanky guy with a little head and a beaky nose. "And where's the bear den?" he asked.

"That's on the opposite side of the park, through the Canyon Rapids. The next bear show is at 7:00, the last one of the day."

"And how about the other bears?" the guest wanted to know.

"Other bears?" Sookie asked.

"The ones you've hidden away from the public."

"I can't help you anymore," Sookie said, pulling the map from his hands and folding it up. She turned so cold so fast, she had my complete attention. Clearly there was a history between them, though she didn't seem to know him.

"That's all right," the man said. "I'm finished here. For now."

Sookie took her stance, legs locked, arms folded across her chest. Cheering erupted from inside the park as more gunfire sounded. The man turned away from the tent. Hands in his pockets, he ambled toward the entrance, as though he were simply hanging out, in no hurry to go anywhere.

"Eric!" Sookie shouted, drawing my attention away from him. She was shoving one of the tables aside. "The boxes! They took the boxes!"

_Fuck_. Two of the other visitors had made off with boxes from the tent. The bear suit was gone.

She pointed in one direction as she started running in another. "Get him!"

In bare feet, I took after my guy. He'd gotten a head start—and he was wearing sneakers—but he was carrying a bulky box as he wove through parked cars. I'd just about caught up with him when he ditched the box, flinging it hard.

Hundreds of pens flew, dinging cars and scattering in the gravel. Not the bear suit, obviously. I gave up the chase as my guy took off through a path in the woods. In the far driveway leading out of the parking lot, Sookie had caught up to her guy. He used the box to shove her hard on her ass, but she got right up and ran for him. They were on a slight incline, so when she took a flying leap onto his back, he lost his balance, stumbled, and went down backwards, on top of her thigh. She grabbed for his shirt, which ripped at the neckline as he wrenched away from her.

A car at their end of the parking lot honked its horn. "Come on!" the guy in the front passenger seat yelled. "Leave it!"

Sookie's guy gave the box one last kick before he abandoned it and started sprinting. She was still on the ground when I caught up with her. She had a cut on her forehead and scrapes on her arms and legs. Tomorrow, she'd probably have a mean bruise on her leg. I walked the few extra steps over to the box, upside down in the dirt. When I picked it up, the suit spilled out. Only the bottom part.

The getaway car's tires squealed out on the road, blocked from view by a section of trees. "Beartown sucks!" they yelled as the horn blared. Sookie pushed herself off the ground. "The good news," I said, "is that all is not lost."

"And the bad?" She winced as she put weight on her leg.

"They got the head."


	4. Chapter 4

Officers Kevin Pryor and Kenya Jones from the local police department arrived at Beartown when the crowd from the 5:00 raid was leaving, still revved from the excitement, pointing gift shop weapons at each other and whooping as they streamed past the group of us gathered around a beat-up box.

"What do you say we head down to your hospitality tent, Mr. Compton, to sort this out?" Officer Pryor suggested. He was skinny for a police officer and comically outsized by his partner, a tall, black, observant woman.

"Fine, but first I want you to mark this spot and take any notes that you need for your investigation. Better yet, I want Andy," Bill said, a hard edge of anger in his voice betraying his poise. He was the kind of guy who might hold it together for now, only to do something unrestrained later. Like firing me.

"Detective Bellefleur is off-duty right now," Kevin said.

"Then call him in. They made off with my head and ruined a whole case of anniversary product."

"I know it's been an upsetting evening."

"Upsetting? Do you understand? They took my mascot, the symbol of my park."

"Let's move to the tent so you can show us how they took your mascot," Kenya suggested. "We're going to do everything we can to get it back."

"Then bring in Andy."

"We'll make sure we inform him of all the details." Kevin stood, arms akimbo, his thumbs hooked into his massive belt, a puffed-up posture that made him look like he was trying to fend off a mountain lion attack.

"It's the Brotherhood." Sookie said. She took a small step forward as she said it, though she needn't have done anything else to get their attention. Both officers and the Old Man straightened. "How do you know?" they pressed.

"Because right before those boxes were taken, a man was asking me about our other bears and where we kept them."

"What other bears?" the Ks wanted to know.

Sookie looked to Bill. "There are no other bears," he said. "We _do_ have a facility for rehabilitation of injured bears, but at present, it's empty. The Brotherhood claims that we stockpile bears for our shows and treat them badly. Force them to do tricks, breed, and so on."

The officers turned to Sookie. "Did any of them_ say_ they were from the Brotherhood?"

"No, but I could tell. They'd been asking about our animal attractions, and then out of the blue came that question about 'other bears.' No one else would know to ask it."

The Ks nodded as if her logic made sense. I still felt out of the loop. What the hell was the Brotherhood?

"Any threats of violence?" they asked.

Bill's eyebrow arched. "What kind of violence?"

"We're just asking." Then they called in Detective Andy Bellefleur.

"How in the devil did they gain possession of the suit?" the detective wanted to know first off, looking me up and down.

"I wasn't wearing it at the time," I answered. "It was hot, I needed a break, so I came out here for some shade and water."

The detective nodded as though in agreement.

"And then?" Bill asked imperiously. He was only goading; he'd already heard the story.

"I sat down in the shade and drank water," I said.

"He stored the suit safely in a clean box," Sookie added.

"See?" Bill said. "They were watching and waiting for the moment they could steal it."

"That makes no sense," Sookie said. "There was no way they could have known Eric was going to be here at that time with the suit. I think they were just on a scouting mission. Or to stir up a little trouble, like messing with our anniversary freebies. And then they got lucky."

"Maybe Eric is involved with the Brotherhood."

"Are you?" The detective looked at me.

"No," I said. "I never heard of the Brotherhood before today."

"And that was the first time you ever came out here and took off the suit?" the Old Man asked. I nodded, certain there wasn't much I could say to save my job. As much as I didn't want to go back home, I wasn't going to grovel to someone who was going to do what he wanted no matter what I did.

"That was the first time," Sookie added. She was sticking up for me, though I had a suspicion it was more like she was standing up to Bill.

"But if Eric hadn't taken off the suit…" Bill made his point without even finishing his sentence.

"Do you remember what happened to Warren?" Sookie asked, still pushing back.

"How is Warren relevant now?" Bill snapped.

"No one stepped in until he'd passed out."

"Can someone tell me how they got the boxes?" the detective interrupted.

"I was helping a visitor," Sookie said. "I'm sure he was from the Brotherhood because he was the one asking me questions about the safety of our bears. And while I was distracted by him, the other men must have taken the suit. One took the box with the suit. The other took a box of pens. I don't see anything else that's missing."

"And you got the pens back," Andy said.

"In a manner of speaking." Bill pointed out into the lot, where the pens still lay.

"And you got the suit back, but not the head. How is that?"

"I don't know," Sookie said. "There was a group that showed up at the tent at once. They didn't seem to be together, because they came from different parts of the parking lot. They happens a lot, that people come in swells, even if they're not together, so I didn't think anything of it."

"Mm-hmm," Andy prodded. I still wanted to know more about this Brotherhood.

"Maybe one of them took the head separate and made off before we even noticed."

"Right in front of you," Bill said, shaking his head.

Andy looked at me. "And you took down the guy with the suit."

I nodded at Sookie.

"How'd you do that?" he asked her.

"I jumped on him from behind," she said vaguely.

"Are you all right? You got a little..." Andy pointed to her temple, where a streak of blood had dried.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Well," he said, all business-like and authoritative. "We have report of some activity of the Brotherhood in an abandoned church south of here, about a mile from the Wechsler-Diamond trail head. We'll follow up. See what we can turn up. You let us know if you see anything unusual around here."

"There will be," the Old Man said.

"Maybe so. You got that 75th anniversary going on this season, and that's sure to draw attention."

The Old Man looked like he'd swallowed something rotten. "I want that head back. I _need_ that head back."

"You know I can't promise you that. But the last thing I want is a big scene. Let us handle this, all right?"

"Then handle it," Bill said.

"We will," he assured Bill again. "But you have to have patience. These things take time."

And then Sophie-Anne showed up, dressed in a long gown with sequins, clearly on her way to a big event.

"Bill?" she asked.

"The bear head got stolen. It's gone."

She actually laughed. "Good riddance. Now we can use the new ones that you've refused to use since I bought them. _Two seasons ago_." She strolled toward him like Vanna White, about to flip a few letters of the puzzle. "We have _three_ that we'll be able to cycle." She stopped only a foot away from him. "Our lives will be so much easier." She waited for him to say something. Bill looked queasy and meek. "Is that all?" she asked.

I was surprised he let her talk to him that way. Muted, he nodded toward the parking lot, littered with a case of Beartown pens.

"Oh, well, that's an easy fix too. I think Eric and Sookie can take care of it, don't you? All those pens are going to need to be swept up and cleaned off. And I'll see Eric and the other bears tomorrow for a lesson in wearing the new suit. Then we'll be all set to go." Sophie-Anne used Bill's walkie-talkie—Sookie's had gotten smashed in the fight—to call for cleaning supplies, not just a push broom, but also paper towels and spray cleaner, as though she expected us to wipe all of them.

"He's fired," the Old Man said, glaring at me.

"Nonsense," Sophie-Anne said. "He'll do an exceptional job cleaning up those pens. _And_ he has an Alice-in-Wonderland for us. She doesn't even need housing and she can be here in two days tops." She looked pointedly at me. "Right Eric?"

I'd only left a message for Pam that morning, with the promise she'd have a spot in the dorms.

"Right," I said.

"Then we're all set." Sophie-Anne climbed back in her car, neither rumpled nor miffed.

"I can't believe they got the head," Bill said as soon as she left.

"I know," Sookie said with deep sympathy in her voice. At the same time, she was working on her ponytail, pulling it back so tight her head looked bald. "Go on home. Fix something to eat and get some rest. We'll take care of the clean-up and then I'll stop by later."

He stalked off without another word as Hoyt arrived with cleaning supplies. Hoyt started to help, but Sookie asked whether he'd cover for her in the tent, instead. She looked at me expectantly, with the broom held out in my direction. I pushed at it a few times while she retrieved the box.

"This is bad," Sookie said, setting the box in front of me. She actually got down on her stomach and reached for pens under a car.

"We have another suit," I said. "Apparently we have _three_ new ones."

"Yes, and we'll make it work. But it's important to Bill to honor the past. That's why this is such a big deal to him."

"There's a difference between honoring the past and getting stuck in it."

"That might be the most insightful thing I've heard you say," Sookie said.

"But I don't understand it. How could anyone get so stuck?" Moving forward had always been my goal in life, which explained why I was wearing a bear suit for the summer. Things would only get better. Or at the very least they'd change.

"It's complicated. There are parts of Bill's past that he dearly wishes he could have back." She didn't offer any details, and I didn't press for them, though it probably explained why their relationship was so complicated. I hated him for his weaknesses.

"I think nostalgia is a luxury," I said. Not only was it a foolish waste of time, but also there had to be something desirable in the past in order to miss it.

She nodded, without saying anything else on the subject.

I pushed at the broom. "And now we get to play pick-up-sticks."

She waved her hand as though she could make it all disappear. "Do you know how many cases of pens I have? Let's just get these swept up and I'll hide them in the dumpster. We need to get that head back."

"So I've heard."

She ignored my sarcasm. "Then we can take a drive—about a half an hour south—and check out the Brotherhood's hangout."

"The Brotherhood?" It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but _this_ I could get on board with. "Tell me about them," I said, as though I might need to be convinced.

"The Brotherhood of the Sun," she said. "They're no good." She was using a large metal dustpan to scoop a combination of pens, gravel, dirt, and cigarette butts. "They say they're for animal rights, but they draw attention to themselves by making wildly false claims."

"Have they caused trouble here before?"

"They picketed us a few times. Bill's had to call the police to get them off our property."

"And you want to go down there tonight and try to steal the head back." I wondered if more tackling would be involved. I hoped it would. Watching Sookie take down that Brotherhood idiot had been the sexiest thing. I had no doubt she hadn't seen many scraps in her life, but where her skill was deficient, her heart was in the right place. She'd fought with a lot of passion. Freddy had gotten her hands dirty once or twice when necessary, always with great distaste. Not that I was comparing.

"We _will_ get that head back," she said, understanding that I was already in. She stood up and brushed the dirt and gravel from her hands and legs. "I'll see if Hoyt can cover for me until closing, and then I need to run home for a few things. You want me to pick you up at the dorms?"

"I'll drive," I said. Half an hour south of here? We'd get there much faster in my Corvette.


	5. Chapter 5

Sookie's knuckles turned white on the way to the Brotherhood's hangout. "Moose!" she kept warning, though we never saw any. "They're thick as thieves through here."

"There are more signs warning of moose than there are moose."

"Believe in them," she said. "They're no joke."

The road descended for a few miles, then wound along a creek. "There's the trail head," she pointed. "I think you need to take a right at the next turn. Right there!" she braced her hands against the dashboard.

"Where?"

"Back there. You just missed it."

"There is no road back there."

"Yes there is. Back up and I'll show you."

I put the Corvette in reverse, certain we hadn't missed anything.

"Right there."

"That's a driveway like yours."

"No, that's a road," she insisted.

"How can you tell?"

"It just..is."

So I turned onto it and drove a bumpy half mile, certain we'd have to turn around, before we came to a small parking area for yet another trail head. From there, we walked a few hundred yards. Sookie dug into her purse and pulled out a Beartown key chain with a tiny flashlight.

"Who would build a church back here?" I asked, still not convinced we were in the right place. "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"Someone who wanted privacy, I guess."

"Privacy I can understand. But as a church, wouldn't you want to build where you could draw a lot of followers?"

"Ah, no." She laughed wryly. "No, not if you already had all the members that you wanted. Then there'd be no need to have to bring in outsiders."

I considered Sookie's turn of mood. "Except it didn't work if it was eventually abandoned."

"True enough," she said. "Though this road alone would be enough to do it in. Roads like this can be closed from fall to spring."

"And now it would be the perfect spot for another group that wanted privacy, at least for the summer. What do you think? Has this road seen a lot of traffic?"

"Hard to tell." She wiggled her key chain. "This light isn't helping much."

As if in answer to my question, we had to duck into the woods three times as cars passed within the next few minutes. "I am no doubt going to have poison ivy tomorrow," Sookie said, swiping at her legs as though they already itched. Soon, the sounds of partying got louder and the glow of campfire shone through the trees; we cut into the woods deeper and made a wide arc to get around to the back of the property. There it was: a church only slightly bigger than a one-room schoolhouse, surrounded by a huge open field. Tonight, it was full of at least 100 people-more than it had probably ever seen-all drinking and dancing to Bon Jovi.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Do you think it's dark and busy enough that we can fit in?" As she asked the question, she reached into her purse and pulled out a baseball hat for me.

"What's this for?"

"To hide your hair, in case anyone recognizes you from earlier today. And you could slouch a little so you don't look so tall." Meanwhile, she was releasing her ponytail, flipping her head upside down and loosening her wavy curls. Upright, she shook her shoulders once more. "There," she said. "Now we just…join the crowd like we belong. Unless you got a better idea." I put my hat on, jammed my hands in my pocket, and let my shoulders slump. "Let's go get a bear head."

George Michael was playing as we stepped into the clearing. We headed for one of the coolers and grabbed two Bud Lights and tried to look as celebratory as the laughing, dancing, shouting people around us. They'd come for the night; along the far side of the clearing, tents had already been set up. There was even a shuttle bus. Someone tossed Sookie a tee-shirt. "Cover me," she said. Ducking around the corner of the church, she crouched behind a lone bush and changed into her new shirt, which was a couple of sizes smaller than the one she'd been wearing.

"I like it." I grinned. "All creatures great and small," I read aloud. Below the slogan, a sun shone down on a line-up of forest animals.

We moved to the outer edge of a group and danced to Madonna. Sookie looked the part as she shimmied along, boobs bouncing, hips shaking, and hair swinging nicely, though she kept pushing her hair away from her face. I surprised her by doing one or two turns with her—or maybe a few more—before I quit so we wouldn't be noticed too much. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey would have nothing on us.

A circle started forming as people jumped into the middle to break dance. "Bear, bear, bear," they chanted. Someone entered wearing the head, dancing badly. He stuck it out for an entire Michael Jackson song before a bald guy grabbed the head and pulled it off, holding it high above the face of the man who'd worn it: the nerdy guy from the tent. He had a look of surprise on his face, like he was seeing the crowd for the first time only then. I shifted to stand behind a woman balanced on top of a man's shoulders. "BONGO," the label on her ass teased.

Jostled by the excited crowd, I got separated from Sookie. She was fine until suddenly she wasn't as the bald man came up behind her and starting grinding against her, one hand gripping her hip, his other palm smashed on her boob. Three times she tried wrenching out of his hold before she finally got away from him. He was starting to follow her when she launched herself at me. "Kiss me," she hissed.

I leaned down to oblige. "Make it look like we're going into the woods to make out," she said as she started nipping at my lips with hard kisses, frenetic like the scene around us.

"Sookie," I said in between her bite kisses. I wrapped my arms around her; I liked the way she fit against me, the top of her head at my chest. "I got you covered."

The bald pervert stopped up short behind her. He was in good shape, in a trim ex-military sort of way, but not as big as me. The shit-eating grin on his face said he hadn't yet conceded for the night. It was only appropriate that I made sure he got the message loud and clear that Sookie was off limits.

"Shh," I said, stroking her cheek. I nudged her mouth with mine, opening her lips to kiss her for real. She took in a deep breath and then seemed to stall, her body stiff, all but for her tongue, a tentative fluttering. I skimmed my fingers along her jaw, down her neck to the top of her t-shirt, where I slipped underneath the ribbing to her collar bone, until finally the air left her chest in a great whoosh, shoulders sinking. She gasped as she drew air in again, energized, her mouth moving in earnest against mine. I could feel the motion around us, the peppering of heat as people danced between us and the fire. Sookie shivered.

"How was that?" I asked when she finally—reluctantly—pulled away.

"All right," she said, nodding.

"All right?"

"It was great," she said. "I mean…yeah, great. That creep is gone."

From there, we had no choice but to wait it out; we wouldn't be able to snatch the bear head and get it off the property when everyone was tossing it around like a beach ball. Hand-in-hand, we made our way to the edge of the woods. Reality set in as soon as my ass hit the damp ground. "Let's review why we're going this."

"We need the head back."

"And why do we need the head back?"

She turned to me. "You're not a little worried about losing your job?"

I shook my head. "You heard Sophie-Anne."

"Well, I know it's important to Bill. And he's a good friend and I care about him. _And_ I feel responsible that the suit was stolen right out from under our noses."

"It's not your responsibility. The people at fault were the assholes who took the suit."

"You feel all clear on that?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Hmm," she said. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here for you." It was the cheap Beartown wave, the cutesy move disguising the vicious bear. "And for the fun and excitement," I added. That part was the full truth.

She harrumphed. "We've got that in spades."

"You fight with great passion."

"I hope not to have to again."

"But you have to admit it would be a great thrill to get that head back."

"Oh…more than anything right now, I want that head."

"Then we are all set here," I said.

But Sookie wasn't finished. "What they're doing is wrong."

Over the next hour, the party ratcheted up from DeBarge and Bananarama to Alice in Chains. The campfire turned into a bonfire. The man with the small head and beaky nose turned out to be someone important to the group. "To all of you people who've joined us for the first time," he said into his bullhorn, "you've picked an historic night. My name is Steve Newlin, and we are the Brotherhood of the Sun!" He held up the bear head on a long stick, which drew a large cheer. "This year marks Beartown's 75th anniversary. Tonight is the beginning of their end. No more!" he shouted. The crowd joined him.

"They have a weird way of showing they're against animal cruelty," I said as they started playing baseball with the head, batting at it with the stick.

"No one ever said they made any sense." Ozzie Osbourne started playing. "We could be here a while longer."

The night wore on. We both agreed that camping would suck, that a solid shelter, running water, and a real bed were essential at the end of the day. This I said with so much vehemence that Sookie guessed I'd been forced to camp out too much in a previous lifetime, which led to a whole conversation about Shirley MacLaine.

"Let's take Shirley MacLaine out of the picture," I said. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"When you say the word 'believe,' it brings in a whole bunch of religious stuff that gets complicated. But do I think it's possible? Yes. There's a lot that's possible outside of all the things I'm aware of."

"I like the idea that something really mind-blowing could happen at any time."

"Me too," she agreed.

As the ground got colder, harder, and damper, we started listing all the Cheers episodes we knew. "The one on Cape Cod where Sam pretends he has a big date to make Diane jealous," Sookie said. She knew a lot of them and had another episode ready for each one I mentioned.

"The one where Diane makes Sam propose to her the 'right' way and then turns him down."

"The one where Sam wonders whether he's screwing up the rest of his life by committing to Diane," Sookie said.

"Isn't that every episode?"

"I'm talking about the one where Diane is hiding in his bachelor cake to surprise him and overhears Sam starting to get cold feet."

"She shouldn't have been in that cake," I said. "It was his bachelor party. Things were bound to happen."

"But Sam couldn't handle the jealousy any more than Diane could. In fact, I think he was worse."

"Worse? No way."

"I don't think they're meant to be together," Sookie said. "They're so different from each other. The most interesting part about them is the way they're attracted to each other in spite of their differences. But it's not enough to keep them together."

"What about Maddie and David on Moonlighting?" I asked.

"They have more in common than Sam and Diane."

"Their detective agency," I agreed.

She was about to say something else when we both stopped. Someone had put a new cassette in the boom box.

"Lionel Ritchie," Sookie said. "I think it's time."

_Finally,_ the mood around the camp had quieted. Earlier, we'd watched Steve Newlin and the bald guy disappear into the church with the bear head. Many people had made their way to the tents. Others were still clustered around the campfire in small, mellow groups.

"I think this might be the best it gets," she said. "You ready?"

I stood.

She started to walk into the clearing. "Wait a minute, you're forgetting something," I said, holding out my hand. "We have to make it look like we hooked up." She untucked her tee and messed up her hair.

"That's not nearly messy enough," I said, but she was already breaking into the clearing. No one seemed to pay us any attention as we wandered past the campfire and around to the other side of the church. We stopped by the bush and peeked in the window above it. There was a small camping lantern that was lit at the altar end. Steve Newlin was sleeping on one of the wooden pews, the bear head on the floor below him. The big bald guy, too big for a pew, was lying on top of a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Now we just go in there and grab the head quietly and run like hell."

"And if someone wakes up?"

"We grab the head and run like hell."

"All right, let's go." I started to walk toward the front door.

"Wait a minute," Sookie said, handing me her purse. "Let me go. I'm smaller and quieter. You keep a look out. That way if anyone else comes by, you can send them off. And when I come out, I'll meet you near the front of the building, on this side to stay out of the light of the campfire."

"Fine," I said.

Through the window, I watched Sookie sneak into the church. She got all the way to Steve Newlin's pew without a problem, grabbed the head, and was halfway toward the exit when I left the window to meet her at the front door.

Over in the tent area, someone was stirring, unzipping the flap door and crawling out to tug on a line. She adjusted one side, then did the same on the opposite side. Every time she pulled, her tent shifted crookedly.

Sookie still hadn't come out of the church. She should have been there by now. Maybe I'd missed her. Maybe for some reason she'd circled around the other side, even though that wasn't what we'd planned. I went back to my original hiding place to look for her, but she wasn't there, either.

The sounds of more chatting came from the campfire area, groggy and indolent and drunk. They wouldn't likely bother us. I took another look inside.

Fucking-A, the bald man was awake, standing in the middle of the room, rubbing his face with his palms. He put his hands on hips and looked around the room before taking a couple of purposeful steps. That's when I saw her.

She was underneath a pew, with the bear head, only a few steps away from his feet.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to everyone who's tried out this story, and for your growing interest in it. I know the premise requires a leap of faith; please know I'm not a fan of a weak Sookie or an irredeemable Eric.

Now taking requests for songs and other hits of the eighties...

* * *

I would have come up with a plan to get Sookie out of that church if I hadn't been interfered with. In fact I had more than one option I was considering when a woman crawled around the corner and yanked on the collar of my tee, her whisper harsh in my ear. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

She was wearing one of the Brotherhood's tee-shirts. The fact that she wasn't immediately making a loud scene made me less inclined to worry; I twisted out of her grasp. "What are you doing here?" she asked again.

"I forgot my tent," I said. "I was hoping for a pew."

She paused for a moment. "Are you from Beartown?"

"I might have been there a few times."

She glanced down at Sookie's purse.

"Where is she? The blond woman you were with?"

Clearly she'd been watching us. I sneaked another glance inside the church. _Fuck,_ Gabe had taken a few steps toward the front of the church. It was hard to tell what he could see from that angle—whether Sookie was in danger of being spotted—but it was clear he was looking for something.

"She's inside, about to be discovered by that bald man if you get in my way."

"Gabe," she said flatly, and then sighed heavily, as though thoroughly put out. "You were stupid for coming here. Don't think you haven't been noticed."

"We seem to be doing all right so far. I'm about to draw him out of there."

"No," she said, shaking her head hard. "No, that's no good." She pulled a nylon bag out of her shorts pocket. "Take this." It was the kind of sack, with a cinch tie, for storing rolled up sleeping bags. Perfect for hiding bear heads. "I'll get Gabe out of there. You leave this place right away. Walk toward the tents like you're going to set up there. Then sneak out through the woods. You have a way out? A car?"

"We'll figure it out," I said, annoyed she was treating me like a kid.

"No, listen," she said. "Get out of here and don't come back. You might think this is a game, like a college prank, but these people aren't going to play nicely. This is just the start of things to come."

"Who are _you_?" I asked. She was already standing with purpose, not bothering to hide herself.

"I'm someone who's on your side, more or less," she said evasively. "Stay out of _my_ way."

**Sookie and I** got out of there with the bear head while the rest of the Brotherhood of the Sun slept, victory ours, the bounce in our steps subdued by the time we got to the car. We'd taken back what belonged to us, but the thrill had been the actual taking, not the prize.

"This might have met its final death," she said next to me in the Corvette, the head in her lap. Fur was singed on one whole side of its face, an eyeball was missing, and an ear was half ripped off. In addition to its usual foul odor, it smelled of cologne, like someone had tried to cover over the stink. "I have half a mind to tell you to pull over at the next overlook so we can throw it off the side of a mountain."

"Let's do it then," I said. Now that we had the head back, I wasn't so sure I really wanted it. What if the Old Man tried to patch it up and send us out into the crowds in it? "He wouldn't make us wear this again, would he?"

When she didn't say anything, I slowed, pulling my car into one of the many sight-seeing areas overlooking the White Mountains National Forest. "Come on," I urged, opening my car door.

"No." She paused. "No. It's Bill's decision, and it would be unfair to take it away from him."

"He's an adult, Sookie. A grown man."

"Exactly. It's for him to decide."

"No, I mean he's too old to have a teddy bear. It seems to me he can't get his head right on this one, and needs someone who can set him straight."

"It's not me. I can't make him change his mind." She was stroking the fur on the undamaged side of the bear head. I hated the way the mood had turned. The Old Man was such a mood killer.

"Just leave it then," I said, gesturing at the bear head. "Let's have a look around anyway." I got out of the car and walked around to her side. She was already standing, the head on her seat, starting to toe the ground. Arm in arm, we took a few more steps together.

"Feels like we might fall off the edge," she said.

"Any step now…"

She shivered. "Like that part in the haunted mine where you think you're going to plummet."

The haunted mine was cheap illusion: a few signs warning of a broken track ahead, then pitch blackness and a jarring dip on the track, but no plummet. "But this is real," I said. We reached the stone wall that marked the edge of the overlook, which meant we were right at the place where we weren't seeing the things that we were supposed to be seeing.

"I've never been here at night like this," Sookie said, "without any stars or moon." She'd grown even more quiet and somber, which definitely wasn't the effect I'd been going for. Considering what kind of night we'd had, from the fight in the parking lot of Beartown to our visit at the Brotherhood hangout, if she was _that_ kind of adrenaline junkie, I was going to have to dangle her from the ledge to have any kind of effect on her.

"Somewhere out there, something's going bump in the night," I prodded.

"Moose," she said, with a wry tone of voice, still subdued.

"Or maybe the ghost has wandered from the Beartown woods."

"Ah, so you've heard the rumors," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Have you seen her?"

"No," Sookie said. "But my old roommate said she was out there. You haven't gone out ghost hunting yet?"

"No. I've seen Top Gun a few times at the drive-in."

"That too. I hear that sneaking into the drive-in and going out ghost hunting is a part of every summer. For the summer people, I mean. Oh, and hallway bowling. Bill has to make repairs to his dorms at the end of every summer."

"But how will I ever top tonight?"

She laughed, finally. "Did that woman really attack you behind the bush?"

"She was pretty pissed that I was there. Said we were stupid for getting involved."

"Maybe it wasn't the best of plans."

I shrugged. "We got the head back."

"And now we know some of the faces of the Brotherhood. If they ever show up again at Beartown…"

"You can tackle them."

"Ouch, no. I mean, I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to, but I'm no Wonder Woman. I could have used her Lasso of Truth."

I laughed. "I disagree, but now I'd like to see you in her costume."

"I always wanted her boots."

"Just the boots?" Now, there was an image.

She bumped against me. "I_ loved_ her boots. But the closest I ever had to them were red and brown snow boots. You can't get through winter here without snow boots."

"I had a light saber."

"You did?"

"Mm-hmm. It glowed in the dark, but I bent it in half once when I got into a fight with my sister. And then after that, she'd show off with it, wave her straight saber like it was the best thing ever. I'd tell her I was using my Jedi mind tricks on her, but she never played along."

"That's like my brother. Whenever I convinced him to play Super Hero with me, he'd just be the Hulk and do whatever he wanted. Smash things up and be completely unreasonable. And he'd never play Wonder Twins with me."

"Well…I had my doubts about Wonder Twins, too."

"But _she_ could be any animal she wanted to."

"As far as super powers go, I think it's a weak one. And all he could do was turn into water."

"Yeah, but he could do almost anything with the water. Like freeze it and become an ice…unicycle." She laughed as she said it. "All right, not so impressive, but I still think the animal power is cool."

"Flying. I would totally take flying."

"Oh yeah. Me too. And teleportation."

"What about telekinesis?"

"Sure. I'd clean out my attic."

"You're telling me that if you had telekinesis, _that's_ what you'd do with it?"

"Yes. I'd definitely keep it quiet. Otherwise, I'd feel the pressure to help people all the time. Same for most of the other super powers: my life would never be my own. And, I'd be wanted by every construction company in the state. Every granite mining operation. Every time a tree fell. You name it. That sounds really boring. Why? What would you do with it?"

"I'd at least do something like…I don't know, lifting something heavy like my car to change the oil. Darth Vader used it to do his force choke."

"Ew. Is that what that was?"

"Yep."

"I'd still take it for my attic."

"How about telepathy?"

"Mm…" she considered. "No. That sounds like a big pain. Hearing everyone's thoughts? Not unless I could turn it on and off with a switch. And even then…"

"Agreed."

"Plus if I needed to know something, I would rather just use my Lasso of Truth."

"Now we're back to the Lasso. I think you have a thing for tying up people."

"Oh, yeah, I would have liked to have tied up my brother once or twice."

She'd missed the innuendo in a way that made me wonder about her experience, but I was glad enough to get off the topic for my own reasons. "I wish I could have seen the look on that Steve Newlin's face when Gabe woke him up to tell him the head was gone."

"So much for 'Victory is ours,'" she mimicked. "He snores, too."

"His fatal flaw is his dancing."

She laughed again. "Now I think you're fishing for a compliment."

"What? You know I was holding back at the Brotherhood, trying not to show off too much and make a scene."

"Of course you were."

"You don't believe me?"

"Nope. You'll have to prove it."

"A challenge!"

I left her there at the ledge and found my way back to the car. There was no radio reception in the mountains, so I picked the first cassette I touched, popped it in, and opened the windows. Talking Heads filled the silence. I stepped outside of the interior lights of the car and waited for my eyes to readjust to the darkness. There was no straining against it.

"Marco," I called out.

"Polo," she responded right away.

"Marco," I said again.

"Polo." She was closer, though I couldn't hear her footsteps. She was moving very quietly.

"Mar…" Suddenly we bumped, crooked to each other, arms tangling as we reached to steady ourselves. Her skin was warm, but flecked with goosebumps. It took a moment until we were straight, face to face, and even then we stumbled a few times as we grew used to moving through the dark. But Sookie read the signals in my hands well, the way I would hold them to direct her one way or another. With only a light touch, I could twirl her to the left or right, in or out, her body fluttering and beating within the frame of my arms, every graze a jab. So fleeting it stung. I lifted her and spun hard to undo it all, her laughter circling us. When I finally slid her down, I felt every inch of her her body. She stretched long, like there were miles and miles of Sookie pressed against me. It was weird and trippy for a moment. Probably from the dizziness. And the pain, too. I realized I was so hard in my jeans, I felt the throbbing all the way up into my chest and throat. And then her lips were on mine, startling and secure.

"Was that okay?" she asked, pulling back, as though she could read my face in the dark. Her breath was a puff of warm air.

"I didn't see you coming."


End file.
